Crock Pot Sweet Potato and Black Bean Curry

This dish started with a conversation on twitter. A few people were discussing how to use black beans & coconut milk which of course led to the idea of a curry. So, my mind went like this "sweet potato is good in curry," "black beans are good with sweet potatoes," "why not sweet potato & black bean curry?"

This was a total make-things-up-as-I-go-along kind of recipe. I had fully intended to make my own curry spice mixture but discovered I was out of about half of the spices I needed (time for a Penzey's run) luckily I had some curry powder. I also had planned to make it on the stove but then realized it would be a perfect crock pot dish. We had a little spinach left from our last CSA box so I decided to throw it in for the extra vitamins. Finally, when tasting it for seasonings I thought it needed something sweet so I sprinkled golden raisins on each dish.

The end result of this was a nice mild curry (well, mine was mild, Matt added more Sriracha to his). The flavors all played well together & the colors made for a pretty dish too. I do think the sweet potato got a little overcooked so in the recipe below I suggest adding it halfway through cooking time.

Crock Pot Sweet Potato and Black Bean Curry

1 chicken drumsticks & thighs, bone-in, skinless
1 c dry black beans
1 small onion, cut into large pieces
1 clove garlic minced
2 T curry powder
2 c chicken broth or stock
1/2 c coconut milk
3/4 - 1 lb orange sweet potato, peeled & cut into 1-inch cubes
salt
1/2 t Sriracha (more or less based on how hot you like your curry)
3 c spinach, roughly torn
golden raisins

Put the beans & 3 cups water in a pot. Bring to a boil. Cover & let simmer for 1 hour.

Put the chicken, beans, sweet potato, onion & garlic in a crock pot. Sprinkle with curry powder. Pour in the chicken broth & coconut milk. Cook on high for 1 1/2 hours. Stir in the sweet potato. Let cook for another 1 1/2 hour until everything is tender & the chicken is falling off the bone.

Taste & add salt & sriracha as needed. Pull chicken from the bones if desired & dispose of bones. Return chicken meat to pot. Stir in spinach & allow to wilt a little.

Serve over rice & sprinkle with raisins.

6 servings

I used bone-in chicken because it was what I had but you can use easily use boneless. You can also use canned beans & skip the soaking step.

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